From Disarmament to Rearmament
WAR AND SOCIETY IN NORTH AMERICA
Series Editors: Ingo Trauschweizer and David J. Ulbrich
Editorial Board
Janet Bednarek
Michael W. Doyle
Nicole Etcheson
Joseph Fitzharris
John Grenier
John Hall
Paul Herbert
James Westheider
Lee Windsor
Hero of the Angry Sky: The World War I Diary and Letters of David S. Ingalls, America’s First Naval Ace, edited by Geoffrey L. Rossano
Protecting the Empire’s Frontier: Officers of the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot during Its North American Service, 1767–1776, by Steven M. Baule
Citizen-General: Jacob Dolson Cox and the Civil War Era, by Eugene D. Schmiel
Veteran Narratives and the Collective Memory of the Vietnam War, by John A. Wood
Home Front to Battlefront: An Ohio Teenager in World War II, by Frank Lavin
From Disarmament to Rearmament: The Reversal of US Policy toward West Germany, 1946–1955, by Sheldon A. Goldberg
FROM DISARMAMENT TO REARMAMENT
The Reversal of US Policy toward West Germany, 1946–1955
Sheldon A. Goldberg
Foreword by Ingo Trauschweizer
OHIO UNIVERSITY PRESS
ATHENS
Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701
© 2017 by Ohio University Press
All rights reserved
To obtain permission to quote, reprint, or otherwise reproduce or distribute material from Ohio University Press publications, please contact our rights and permissions department at (740) 593-1154 or (740) 593-4536 (fax).
Printed in the United States of America
Ohio University Press books are printed on acid-free paper
27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Goldberg, Sheldon Aaron, author.
Title: From disarmament to rearmament : the reversal of US policy toward West Germany, 1946/1955 / Sheldon Aaron Goldberg ; foreword by Ingo Trauschweizer.
Other titles: Reversal of US policy toward West Germany, 1946/1955
Description: Athens, OH : Ohio University Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017026384| ISBN 9780821423004 (hc : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780821446225 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Germany—History—1945-1955. | Disarmament—Germany—History—20th century. | United States—Relations—Germany (West) | Germany (West)—Relations—United States. | World War, 1939-1945—Peace. | Militarism—Germany. | Military planning—History—20th century. | United States—Military policy—History—20th century.
Classification: LCC DD257.4 G65 2017 | DDC 355/.03109730943—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017026384
To my late son, Steven Lawrence Goldberg, of beloved memory, who achieved so much in such a short time under great adversity, and to my grandchildren, Rachel, Aaron, and Barrett, to whom I hope this effort will be an example that learning continues throughout one’s lifetime.
Contents
2. The Diplomatic Path to 12 September 1950
3. The Military Path to 12 September 1950
5. 1954–55: EDC Defeated, “German Problem” Solved
Epilogue: The Role of the Three US Military Services
Appendix A: The European Advisory Commission (EAC)
Appendix B: Operation Eclipse Memoranda
Appendix C: Eradication of Nazism and Militarism
Appendix E: The Himmerod Conference and the Bonn Report
Appendix F: Acheson’s “Single Package”
Foreword
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is fast approaching its seventieth anniversary and one may conclude that the alliance is showing its age. What started as a Cold War organization aimed at deterring the Soviet Union, first by demonstrating political resolve and then, in the wake of the Korean War, by creating more potent armed forces, has far outgrown its original geographic and strategic dimensions. NATO is now an almost all-European coalition that ties the continent to North America (and vice versa) and even acts far outside of its own territory (for example, in Afghanistan). NATO is facing challenges from Russia in Eastern Europe and could well get drawn into the vortex of Middle East conflicts. In the